A NSW police highway patrol car slammed into the vehicle of Gai Vieira at an intersection in Cronulla on 5 September. At the time of the collision, the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command officer was in pursuit of another driver who was reportedly using their mobile phone.
The 40-year-old NSW police senior constable was allegedly travelling at 124 km/h in a 70 zone without using his lights or siren, when he smashed Ms Vieira’s car. He was charged last week with dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm and will appear in court in November.
On the day after the officer was charged, the Redfern Legal Centre released figures from an analysis of NSW police data it’s been undertaking, which showed that rather than pulling back on high-speed pursuits, the police force has actually ramped up its use of this lethal practice.
The analysis of police data further found that over the three year period, there were six fatalities, the number of collisions had risen by 24 percent, while the number of injuries had fallen by 10 percent.
And less than 10 percent of the 2,472 high-speed pursuits carried out in 2016-17 were in relation to criminal activity, which means police are risking the lives of the public as they try and apprehend people over traffic offences, stolen vehicles and failing to pull over for random breath testing.
“The continued reliance on lethal pursuits by NSW police is both unjustified and out-of-step with best practice,” said Samantha Lee, head of police accountability practice at the Redfern Legal Centre.
“Even if police were to apply a cost and benefit analysis to the situation, the costs would outweigh the benefits hands down,” Ms Lee said. The costs include personal injury and death, as well as “the huge emotional toll such pursuits have on the community and police.”
Read the full article here (Sydney Criminal Laywers, 4 October 2018)
